Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Lanefan" data-source="post: 8930989" data-attributes="member: 29398">My answer would be, unless the burnables are soaking wet or conditions are otherwise awful, that the fire simply gets lit.&nbsp; No more skill required than what it takes to light the party's campfire each evening, and I've yet to see any DM make players roll checks for that unless conditions are extreme.There's also no skill involved in the random element of whether anyone is in a position to notice said fire; and if yes, how long it'll take.This conflates two discrete elements into one roll, which might be fine if you're consciously aware of doing it but not so fine if you're not; the two things being 1) action resolution: can you get the fire lit and 2) determination of consequences: does anyone out there happen to notice it.&nbsp; To me those are very separate things and would normally be rolled for by different people: the player rolls to get the fire lit (if necessary, usually it would be an auto-success) then the DM rolls every so often in game time to see if anyone out there sees it, with &quot;anyone&quot; also including low-odds things like hungry monsters flying by.The HOW is every bit as important as the WHAT, in that the HOW often goes a long way to determining if the WHAT succeeds.&nbsp; I want to hear both; the WHAT tells me-as-DM what consequences you're trying for (though often it's pretty obvious), and the HOW helps me set the odds of success.&nbsp; Consider that...WHAT: we're trying to attract attention of any passing ships.HOW: we're lighting a big signal fire....is far more likely to attract attention than...WHAT: we're trying to attract attention of any passing ships.HOW: we're hanging a piece of bright cloth from the tallest tree we can find.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Lanefan, post: 8930989, member: 29398"] My answer would be, unless the burnables are soaking wet or conditions are otherwise awful, that the fire simply gets lit. No more skill required than what it takes to light the party's campfire each evening, and I've yet to see any DM make players roll checks for that unless conditions are extreme. There's also no skill involved in the random element of whether anyone is in a position to notice said fire; and if yes, how long it'll take. This conflates two discrete elements into one roll, which might be fine if you're consciously aware of doing it but not so fine if you're not; the two things being 1) action resolution: can you get the fire lit and 2) determination of consequences: does anyone out there happen to notice it. To me those are very separate things and would normally be rolled for by different people: the player rolls to get the fire lit (if necessary, usually it would be an auto-success) then the DM rolls every so often in game time to see if anyone out there sees it, with "anyone" also including low-odds things like hungry monsters flying by. The HOW is every bit as important as the WHAT, in that the HOW often goes a long way to determining if the WHAT succeeds. I want to hear both; the WHAT tells me-as-DM what consequences you're trying for (though often it's pretty obvious), and the HOW helps me set the odds of success. Consider that... WHAT: we're trying to attract attention of any passing ships. HOW: we're lighting a big signal fire. ...is far more likely to attract attention than... WHAT: we're trying to attract attention of any passing ships. HOW: we're hanging a piece of bright cloth from the tallest tree we can find. [/QUOTE]

Verification